Food Shopping Tips For Holiness

​Food shopping.  The bane of my existence.  Well, not exactly the bane, but close.
Now that I have two children, it is more difficult for me to get out of the house and shop for food.

I regularly remind myself how absolutely blessed my family is to be able to have the resources of clean, healthy and delicious food and that so many go hungry each day.  Which is why organizations like St. Vincent de Paul Society (and countless others), which aid families in meeting basic needs, are so very important and need our support to continue to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Also, Saint Gianna Molla said: "One earns paradise with one's daily task.”

Despite knowing my blessings and Saint Gianna’s advice, food shopping still continues to be something I don’t look forward to.

It wasn’t always like this.  I used to enjoy food shopping with my son. We would go weekly, usually during the weekday while it was not that busy.  We’d take our time, he would count the apples as he dropped them into the bag, get excited about picking out his favorite yogurt flavor (ah, to be a child again!) and when I was pregnant, I would show him the fruit or vegetable size that his baby sister was that particular week.

Now that said baby sister is here, food shopping has become much more difficult.  Gone are the days where we can leisurely stroll through the market.  Now while he drops an unknown number of apples in the bag, I am rocking baby sister in the baby carrier while frantically trying not to drop the shopping list for the twelfth time.

While as with other chapters in life, I know this is temporary and these precious, while frantic, moments are fleeting.  One day there will be no little people with me food shopping and I will look back on these days and miss them. Hopefully, our children will look back on these days and remember the everyday moments with as much love and admiration as we do.
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I have five tips to help make food shopping less stressful.  While most of these tips seem like no-brainers, when combined, they really make the weekly task less of a burden, especially the fact that I have recently discovered I can make money while food shopping! 
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Before I list these tips, I’d like to note that I did not include the blessing which is Curbside Pickup for groceries.  Two reasons: the first being that I never tried it and can’t give an honest, first-hand opinion; the second reason is that my son enjoys going food shopping, so we go.  Perhaps I will try the pickup one day.  For now, here are my tips to make food shopping less stressful:

1. Eat before you go.

No, seriously. Eat something at home. Do not go food shopping hungry.  More importantly, do not let your children go food shopping hungry.  Everyone eats ahead of time.   

2. Menu and shopping list.

We eat one of three things for breakfast every day, so breakfast is easy.  For lunch we usually have leftovers from the night before or turkey/cheese rollups or tuna on Fridays.  For dinner, we have three nights out of seven where we eat meat and then the rest of the nights are meatless, with one night where we order take-out.   After planning the menu, I write down exactly everything that I will need and I try to make my grocery list in order of the market.  I start at produce and end at the frozen foods.  So, group produce together, deli, meat, middle aisles, dairy, etc.…

3. Coupon if you must but Fetch rewards is MUCH better!

I like to make money while spending money.  I love using Fetch rewards.  I just upload my receipt and it gives me money on items that I’ve earned.  Sometimes, I get money just for uploading my receipt. It’s free and it is easy to use.  It's a free app that turns grocery receipts into rewards. Just scan any grocery receipt, and earn points towards awesome rewards. You'll earn at least 1% on all listed brands and products, and gain access to exclusive offers that earn you even more points.  Just scan your grocery receipt, and get rewarded.
Use my referral code, VCYAK, during signup to get extra points just for signing up!
Download Fetch Rewards free here: https://bit.ly/2zwOdBK

4. Bag frozen with perishable.

I try to bag or ask the person helping to bag the perishable items with the frozen items.  While we live relatively close to the market, things have happened (like my car getting stuck on the side of the road due to a faulty coil) and you don’t want your food to go bad.

5. Make putting food away a game.

Since my son was a much smaller boy, I have made putting the food away a game. I will give him some non-breakable items to put away and then tell him to see how fast he can do it.  Usually it is just things like pasta, bread, boxes and cans, but he enjoys it.  Any time I can give my children extra positive reinforcement for following directions and while ACTUALLY helping me is a win-win in my book!
 
Do you have any tips you can share?  Please share with us on Facebook!
As always, thank you for reading.  God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always.

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